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  1. NatJ

    Are there any reasons not to butcher laying hens?

    I've eaten plenty of laying hens. They tasted fine to me. Because they are older, the meat will be tougher than meat from young chickens. So they need long slow cooking with plenty of moisture. Some recipes were traditionally made with old chickens (examples: coq au vin, chicken & dumplings).
  2. NatJ

    Partridge genetic color names?

    Some things are relatively easy (one set of genes, one color name, no confusion). Unfortunately this is one that has a lot of different names and terms for what is pretty much two color patterns (the one in Welsummers and the one in Bielefelders) with minor variations in things like how dark...
  3. NatJ

    Egg Theatrics - how to ID the perpetrators

    In the pictures of your nests, I see wood pellets and sawdust. Maybe the hens want a different material to make their nest? You could try offering something different, such as a big handful of hay in one nest, and see if it makes a difference.
  4. NatJ

    How to portion when processing?

    It depends on the dogs and on your own preferences. Some dogs are picky about which parts of the chicken they eat. You have to learn this by experience with your dog. Many dogs are happy to eat every bit of the chicken, in which case they can get everything you don't want to keep for the...
  5. NatJ

    Shipping eggs safely

    You might look at threads that talk about shipping eggs for hatching. The main concern with hatching eggs is that they might break while being shipped. That will probably be your main concern as well. When people ship eggs for hatching, they tend to individually wrap each egg in some kind of...
  6. NatJ

    How to portion when processing?

    If you do portion it out, you do not have to discard the main carcass. You can choose to freeze that too, or cook it up to make broth and then freeze the broth. Or if you have pets that like to eat raw meat, consider whether they might appreciate it (they might be just as happy with some other...
  7. NatJ

    Silverudd's Blue

    The American Silverudd's Blue Association also has a page that talks about the history of the breed. Wikipedia does too. https://www.silveruddsblue.org/breed-information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverudd_Blue Regarding whether they breed true: they should for most traits, but the blue...
  8. NatJ

    Things you wish you could say

    Depending on how the light is leaking in, can you put a towel against the bottom of the door? Heavier curtains on the windows? If the person was in their room doing things that require light, I can see why they would want to have the light on. But even if they thought they had good reason to...
  9. NatJ

    Medicated Game Bird Feed for Cocci Treatment

    Feed typically has a low level of medication. It is meant to help avoid outbreaks (usually works but not always.) If you already have a coccidiosis problem, with birds showing symptoms, they need a higher dose of medication than what is in the feed. [Disclaimer: I do not know about pigeons...
  10. NatJ

    Broody Hen Not Standing? Has Chicks

    How is your hen doing? Did she start standing and walking again?
  11. NatJ

    genetics questions (prediction on how chicks would look)

    In that case, she should produce black chicks with the Black Australorp cockerel. With the Buff Orpington rooster, about half of her chicks should be black. The other half will probably look similar to your current pullet that is a mix of Buff Orpington and Gold Laced Wyandotte. I'm pretty...
  12. NatJ

    Partridge genetic color names?

    That sounds right. Or you could call them gold duckwing with barring (Bielefelder) and gold duckwing (Welsummer). Or you could call the Bielefelders Crele (which basically means a duckwing pattern plus white barring.) It gets confusing because there are so many names for one color pattern...
  13. NatJ

    sport marans:

    There are two major genes that affect leg color. One is sexlinked, the other is not. The sexlinked one is dark vs. light legs. Dark legs are recessive (blue/slate or green/willow). Light legs are dominant (white or yellow). The other leg color gene is white vs. yellow. For chickens with light...
  14. NatJ

    Poultry shows... info for a newbie!

    And do not expect to buy just one chick and expect it to grow up to be an excellent show bird. Buy several, or maybe a lot more than that, and expect to pick through to find the best one(s) for showing. Even when the best breeders are breeding from the best of their show stock, not all chicks...
  15. NatJ

    genetics questions (prediction on how chicks would look)

    I would expect the personality to be similar to what any other chick gets: some influence from the mother's genes, some influence from the father's genes, and some influence from how it is raised. I do not know of any chicken personality traits that are inherited in a sexlinked fashion. (Of...
  16. NatJ

    genetics questions (prediction on how chicks would look)

    If you get a chick from that pairing, I expect you can be confident about the sex from a relatively early age (probably from the chick down, definitely by the time it is fully feathered). Yes, that does make it easier to cull or rehome a cockerel sooner rather than later :)
  17. NatJ

    genetics questions (prediction on how chicks would look)

    Other than hatching the egg, not you will not be able to tell which one of the roosters fertilized the egg. If you do hatch the egg and look at the chick, sometimes you will be able to tell and sometimes not. What color is the "blue rock and GLW" mix pullet? If you already posted a description...
  18. NatJ

    What comb type is this?

    Her comb looks like a rose comb to me. If she produced chicks with combs like hers, I would think they have rose combs too. Hmm, I wonder if she's got a duplex comb gene? (V or Buttercup comb). That would explain 2 horns on the combs of the chicks, but I would not have expected it to make a...
  19. NatJ

    Hatching Supermarket Eggs

    I found a thread about hatching grocery store eggs. It is a number of years old by now, but some of the information might still be useful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/trader-joes-other-grocery-store-egg-hatching-club-are-you-a-member.290845/ If I was desperate for eggs to hatch...
  20. NatJ

    Duck Egg Colour Genetics

    As someone who has read quite a bit about genetics, I find that really painful to read. Genes are dominant or recessive, not "strong." And the letter abbreviations are being used all wrong. It sounds like the genetics for blue/green eggshell color work the same in ducks as they do in chickens...
    • NatJ
    • Post #8
    • Forum: Ducks
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